Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“When the time comes,” Dravic continued, “I would rather have the people of Driochmor standing beside me because they believe Scotara is worth defending than standing there because their king ordered them to.”
Merek remained silent for several moments.
Then he clasped Dravic’s arm again.
“Perhaps you should tell the High Council exactly that.”
“I intend to.”
Merek released him and stepped away.
Dravic turned toward Adira. She stood beside his stallion, waiting for him, and smiling.
His eyes narrowed.
Adira immediately wondered if she had made a mistake. She gave him an innocent look.
He pointed at her smile.
She understood. Why was she smiling?
Because she had heard him. She had heard nearly every word he had spoken to Merek, and pride had swelled inside her as she listened. He had not demanded loyalty because he was king. He wanted to earn it. But she could hardly tell him that.
Adira shrugged, her smile fading.
Dravic shook his head. “I did not mean to chase your smile. I only wondered what brought it on.”
Before she could respond with another shrug, so he would assume she didn’t know what he asked, Dravic caught her around the waist and lifted her onto his horse.
He mounted behind her and as usual his arm settled securely around her waist. “There is something different about you, Adira, and I intend to discover what it is.”
Her heart jumped, and she kept her gaze straight ahead as Dravic urged the stallion forward.
The village disappeared behind them, swallowed by the forest long before the morning had fully passed.
For several hours, they traveled without incident.
The deeper they rode into Driochmor, the more the land seemed determined to remind them that they had left the familiar parts of Scotara behind. The path narrowed and widened without reason, sometimes forcing the warriors into a single line before opening abruptly into stretches broad enough for several horses to ride abreast. Ancient trees towered over them, their trunks thick and gnarled, their branches intertwined so densely overhead that little sunlight penetrated them.
Adira barely noticed where the path led. She was too busy listening. She had never imagined the world contained so much sound.
The steady beat of the horses’ hooves fascinated her most. She had felt the movement of a horse beneath her countless times, but now there was something accompanying it, a repeated rhythm that changed depending upon the ground they traveled. The sound softened through deeper snow, sharpened where the path had frozen hard, then changed again when they crossed a shallow stretch scattered with stone.
She wanted to turn and watch every horse to match the sound with the movement of its hooves.
She dared not.
Voices came and went around her as well. Some remained little more than meaningless noise. Others reached her clearly enough that she caught several words before they disappeared again.
Dravic’s voice remained the easiest to recognize, perhaps because she had gotten to know him so well. Or perhaps simply because she wanted to hear him more than anyone else.
He spoke occasionally with Seger or Ernach, and every time he did, Adira had to remind herself not to react unless she could see him speaking.
That continued to prove difficult.
Fiora was even worse.
The fairy flitted alongside them for a while, complaining to Ernach about something Adira could not completely follow, then she suddenly laughed.
Adira nearly turned toward the sound but stopped herself just in time.
So that was Fiora’s laugh. Light and quick, tumbling over itself much like the fairy did when she flew.
Adira smiled.
Dravic looked down at her.
She immediately looked toward the trees as if something there had amused her.
“It amazes me that though you live in constant silence, you find something to smile at. You are a courageous woman, Adira.”
Adira heard every word and her heart skipped more than a single beat. That he thought her courageous surprised her. She turned and looked up at him only after feeling his arm tighten, giving herself a reason for doing so.
She did not know how much longer she could hide that she could hear, particularly if her hearing continued to strengthen as rapidly as it had since yesterday.
The thought filled her with excitement… and fear.
She still worried she would wake one morning and find the silence had returned. Until she knew it would not, this belonged to her.
Her precious secret.
The hours passed, the cold easing somewhat as midday approached. They stopped only briefly to rest the horses and eat before continuing on. Ernach assured Dravic they were making good time, though reaching the High Council remained several days away.
The forest changed as the afternoon wore on.
The enormous trees thinned enough for pale sunlight to reach the ground in places, and the path began a gradual climb through rockier terrain. Snow lay unevenly here, collected heavily in hollows while leaving stretches of dark earth and stone exposed.
Adira listened to the wind moving through the branches.